Love and Second Chances {Book 6}

Chapter 5

Shoutout to Beauty33_Beast for her comments that encouraged me to drop this chapter today. You guys should also go and check out her story! 

Also, I am in love with this song as it inspired this chapter. So enjoy!

Daniella

I was nervous-- No scratch that. I was beyond nervous. Skylar and Will had set me up by letting the girls know about my past with JJ and then dangling tickets to the game in their faces. Okay, relax Daniella! You're just going to a basketball game, that doesn't mean that you and JJ are going to talk. The mini pep talk I gave myself had me feeling a little better and I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. I was rocking JJ's old red and black basketball jersey from high school that he had given me as a gift as well as black high waisted jeans and my black air forces. I let my hair down my shoulders and upon Skylar's request, I wore gold hoops to match hers. Okay, I can do this. 

Taking a deep breath, I exited the bathroom of the State Farm Arena and headed to my seat where Skylar and the girls were waiting. We were sitting courtside and it didn't take long to find the girls who were all snacking on candy and popcorn. I took my seat beside Skylar and she shot me a smile before offering me a bag of popcorn.

"You alright now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good, the game is starting," she told me right as the players came on the court and got ready for tip-off. My eyes immediately searched for JJ and when I found him, I couldn't help but hold my breath. JJ was still fine! While not much had changed from high school, he had gained a lot more muscle and went from being fine to sexy as hell with his charm and million dollar smirk he gave the other team. 

"Let's go!" Skylar screamed along with the rest of the crowd, snapping me out of my minute of distraction to realize we had already scored a three-pointer. The girls were on their feet cheering and I stood up and joined them, getting back into the game.

***

The first quarter went by extremely quickly and before I knew it, there were two minutes left in the second quarter and we were only up by one point. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, myself included and I couldn't help but hope that we would stay up. It was our ball. Will dribbled the ball down the court and put his hand up to let his team know to get closer so he could pass it. JJ immediately got open and Will passed it to him before JJ got the ball into his position and headed straight to the net. A player from the other team tried to block him but JJ simply crossed him over before taking the three-point shot. Swish! Thirty seconds on the clock, we were four points up. It was the other team's ball and JJ was playing defense. The other player was having a hard time getting out of JJ's defensive positioning and I couldn't help but smile. Fifteen seconds. Getting frustrated, the other player shoulder checked JJ sending him to the ground before taking his two point shot. The referee blew his whistle and awarded the other team two free throw shots. What the hell!  The entire arena broke out into 'Boo's' and JJ stormed up to the referee and immediately started arguing and I didn't blame him. He was slammed to the ground and you give the other team two extra shots? 

JJ and the referee were in a heated argument before JJ shoved him and one of the coaches had to break it up before JJ could do more damage. Before anyone could stop him, JJ was storming back into the locker room and another player was on the court, taking JJ's spot.

"What the hell happened?" I asked Skylar and she shook her head irritated.

"This happens all the time. The referee makes a bogus call, JJ gets pissed off and can't control his anger. I just hope they let him back into the game this time."